Refrigeration



July 30, 1935. R. HALLOCK' REFRIGERATION Original Filed May 28, 1932 7 4;, ATTORNEY Patented July 30, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 614,091. Divided and this 1934, Serial No..725,699

8 Claims.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 614,091, filed May 28, 1932.

My invention relates to grids for ice trays of 5 refrigerators.

The object of my invention is to provide a grid capable of direct release of ice cubes. Another objectis to provide a grid affording direct release of ice cubes and capable of use with a metal 10 ice tray. 1

The invention will be understood by reference to the following description of one embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this'specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an ice tray and grid embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Ihe tray comprises a body portion ll preferably made of flexible material such as thin sheet aluminum. The tray may be equipped with any desired means to remove it from the shelf 12 on which it rests and which is part of an evaporator of a refrigerator.

Within the tray is a grid 20 which includes a central dividing portion or backbone 2!, to which is pivotally secured a plurality of lateral dividing portions or wings 22.

Backbone 2| includes a pair of substantially vertical walls joined together along their lower, forward and rear edges but otherwise spaced apart. The upper parts of the walls are turned over, as is shown at 23, and bent back on themselves. A rod or piece of wire or the like 24 is secured within the space formed by the bending over of the walls. The bent over portions of the walls are slotted at 25 in order to receive the metal wings 22, which are formed with apertures through which the rods 24 extend.

One end of the backbone 2| is apertured, as at 32, and a lever member 33 is pivoted therein. Member 33 may advantageously be a piece of heavy steel wire and is preferably formed substantially as shown. That is, the wire extends horizontally through the aperture 32 and isthence bent at a right angle into a vertical plane and extended forwardly to form a contacting portion 34 and is then again bent at a right angle to form a handle portion 35. Contacting portion 34 is adapted to press against the curved upper part of the front wall of the tray when the. handle portion 35 is raised.

application May 15,

The operation is as follows:

Water having been placed in the tray I 0 and the tray having been placed in a refrigerator or the like where it would be at sufliciently low temperature so that the water will freeze, blocks of ice will be formed in the tray and will adhere to the bottom, the sides, and the front and back respectively, of the tray and to the grid 20. The tray is removed from the refrigerator. To remove the ice, the handle 33 is raised. This causes contacting portion 34 to press against the front wall of the tray. This first results in springing the front wall away from the blocks of ice adhering thereto. Further movement of the handle 33 causes the grid 20 to be raised with respect to the tray. This causes the blocks of ice to break away from the bottom and the sides of the tray. The blocks of ice cling to the grid and the grid with the ice cubes attached thereto is removed as a unit from the tray. This breaking away starts at the front of the tray and progresses towards the rear. The grid with the ice cubes attached thereto is thus peeled from. the tray. The construction is such that the central portion or backbone is less resilient to vertical load than the tray body. Although all the blocks are broken away with one movement of the handle 33, nevertheless the entire breaking does not occur instantaneously, but it takes place progressively along the length of the tray. Therefore the force necessary to cause this breaking away is not so great as it would be if it occurred instantaneously.

In the breaking of the ice away from the tray the tray is bent slightly, but-the backbone 2| is not bent. Hence the ice blocks adhere to the grid rather than to the tray.

In order to remove the ice cubes from the grid, the turned over portions 23 may be pinched together, thus breaking the bond between the blocks of ice and the backbone portion 2|. In order to break the ice away from the wings 22 these wings may be flexed slightly in forward and backward direction, whereby the blocks are broken away due to the bending of the resilient wings; or the wings on One side may be pivoted vertically about rod 24, thus causing the tops of the blocks of ice held between the wings to contact the turned over portion 23 and a slight amount of force will be sufficient to break the bond between the blocks and the wings 22. The blocks are then completely free from the grid. The wings on either side of the backbone are separately pivoted with respect to those on the other side.

While I have shown and described one embodi- 55 ment of my invention it will be understood that this is for purposes of illustration only and. that my invention'is not to be limited thereby.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for producing ice pieces comprising a tray body and a grid member removably fitting into said tray body, said grid member comprising a pair of longitudinally extending vertical walls joined together at their bottom edges and relatively movable at their top edges, the material of said walls being resilient so that the walls may be squeezed together, and a plurality of lateral dividing members hinged to said walls.

2. Apparatus for producing ice pieces compris ing a tray body made of resilient material, and a grid member removably fitting into said tray body, said grid member comprising a pair of longitudinally extending vertical Walls joined together at their bottom edges and relatively movable at their top edges, the material of said walls being resilient so that the walls may be squeezed together, a plurality of lateral dividing members hinged to said walls, the vertical extent of said walls making them less resilient to a vertical load than said tray body, and means pivotally mounted on said grid member for moving it in a vertical plane from said tray body.

3. Apparatus for producing ice pieces comprising a tray body and a grid member removably fitting into said tray body, said grid member comprising a vertical backbone and lateral dividing members pivoted on said backbone.

4. Apparatus for producing ice pieces comprising a tray body and a grid member removably fitting into said tray body, said grid member comprising a vertical backbone including a rod, and lateral dividing means pivoted on said rod.

5. A grid adapted to removably fit into an ice tray comprising a vertical backbone and dividing wings hinged to said backbone.

6. A grid adapted to fit into an ice tray comprising a backbone and single wall dividing members pivoted on said backbone.

'7. A grid adapted to fit into an ice tray comprising a backbone, lateral dividing wings hinged to said backbone, and a lever pivoted on said backbone.

8. A grid adapted to fit into an ice tray comprising a backbone, lateral dividing wings pivoted to said backbone, and a lever pivoted on said backbone.

ROBERT LAY HALLOCK. 

